Page 12 of Cruelly Fated
Guards marched into the mess hall and ordered me to rise—twelve of them, as was their usual quotaassigned to me—and led me toward the visitation building. I strode into the compact room and found myself staring at two hapless bastards, Valor and Rhylan.
They were supposed to show up yesterday. The prison even cut visits short because of them, including Allie & Old Pete’s. Valor cancelled last minute, though. He’d better have a good explanation for the sudden change in plans. Allie had woken a suppressed desire in me, to leave this shithole and taste life again. Taste her…
Valor sat tall in a black-on-black suit—standard fare for him, considering he ran half a dozen family-owned businesses. His gaze swept over me with clinical precision, eyes narrowed, jaw tight, his expression sealed off like a vault.
Rhylan, the wolf shifter fae and self-proclaimed frat god-slash-pro-football hopeful, had his cheek propped on his palm, eyes closed in nap mode. Valor kicked his shin.
The wolf jerked upright, blinking blearily. “Damn, how long was I out?” He yawned and stretched his arms overhead, revealing his practice jersey half-tucked into a pair of beat-up jeans. “Oh, hey, man. You look like hell.”
Rhylan, who was five years my junior, had never developed the concept of a filter. Whatever crossed his mind flew out of his mouth. Valor and I had practically raised him, but I’d never take credit for it now, seeing how he’d been wasting his life on endless parties.
Still, these two had been my ride-or-die since we were little boys. What brought us together? Together, our fathers ownedmost of the city and were, thus, rightfully dubbed kings of Avari. Between our bloodlines, we ran this place.
Me? I’d lived most of my life locked behind mansion gates, homeschooled until I took up my enforcer title at eighteen. Unlike my brother—the brainiac and golden jock before me—I never went to college. Not that I ever wanted to…but it might’ve been nice to have the damn option.
Somehow, through all these years, the vampire and the wolf had stuck by my side. Our lives had veered in wildly different directions, but one thing bound us—the crushing weight of carrying our families’ legacies as firstborn sons.
We all handled it differently.
Valor had joined the family empire straight out of college. I couldn’t recall a single time I’d called and he hadn’t been working. Rhylan, on the other hand, had spent the past three years actively avoiding responsibility. He’d flunked senior year on purpose just to buy himself time—an excuse to chase his dream of getting drafted into the pro football league. In the meantime, he partied like a full-time frat boy between games and practices.
No doubt Valor had yanked him out of bed at noon to make it here.
Valor leaned in, gaze sharp. “You look…different.”
I cocked an eyebrow. Nothing ever slipped past a vampire’s scrutiny. “Lost a little weight.”
“That’s not it. You look…” He hesitated, then added, “…happy. Did they drugyou?”
What?
Oh…
I leaned back in my chair, schooling my features. “I had an unexpected visitor yesterday.”
That perked Rhylan right up. He slugged Valor’s arm and grinned. “Told you conjugal visits were a thing. Who was it? That little dragon fiancée of yours?” He wiggled his eyebrows like an idiot.
My lips tugged sideways. Catalina had always been a great friend, but our short-lived engagement had been nothing more than an arrangement. I’d never fancied her—definitely not the way my brother had.
“I doubt her family would let her set one pedicured dragon claw in this place,” Valor muttered, dry as ever.
Rhylan scrunched his face. “You’re not…dating anyone in here, right? I mean, if you are, cool. No judgment. We all got needs.” His weak laugh died before it landed.
“I’m glad you’d be so supportive,” I said flatly, then rubbed my jaw. “No. She’s the granddaughter of a new inmate. Asked for my protection…in a rather unconventional way.”
I told them what happened.
Rhylan swallowed hard. Valor adjusted his tie.
“Hot damn.” Rhylan whistled low. “She got any family outside the prison who needs protecting?”
I didn’t respond. His joke rubbed me the wrong way, and I didn’t know why. I didn’t know the girl, didn’t have a claim, but the idea of anyone else touching her didn’t sit right with me.
Valor, ever the reader of tension, stepped in. “I see…”
I exhaled hard, running a hand down my face. Talking about her took the edge off…but not by much.
“So, what’s going on?” I asked. They never dropped in, or cancelled on me, without warning unless it was serious.
